Microelectronic substrates, such as semiconductor integrated circuit chips, multichip modules, printed circuit boards and multilayer ceramic substrates, are widely used in electronic systems. As the state of the art for manufacturing microelectronic substrates continues to advance, higher density and higher functionality substrates are being made. Since a single defect can produce an unusable microelectronic substrate, it is desirable to repair a defective area on a microelectronic substrate.
Known microelectronic substrate repair methods typically require local heating of a defective area on a microelectronic substrate. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,230 to Donelon et al. entitled Laser Methods for Circuit Repair on Integrated Circuits and Substrates uses a laser plating technique to repair conducting metal lines. U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,714 to Reisman et al. entitled Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition for Repairing Broken Lines in Microelectronic Packages describes a method for repairing broken lines using chemical vapor deposition under localized heating. Unfortunately, localized heating can vary widely depending on the materials used, the topography of the microelectronic substrate and the design density. Accordingly, the topography of a material that is deposited for repair tends to be nonuniform.